Shibuya's Song
by LovelySilversky
Summary: Neku becomes Shibuya's next Conductor, contains spoilers for the end game blah blah blah
1. Chapter 1

The following is a The World Ends With You fanfiction. It has spoilers about the entire game, the secret reports and the secret ending. ENJOY xD Oh, and there's mild swearing, but it's TWEWY, you know? xD

-

Neku slowly approached the transparent café doors, remembering just how long it'd been since he'd last seen Hanekoma. Since he's been on Cat Street at all, actually.

It'd been about a month since Neku had been grated his life back, a reward for making it through the composer's stupid life or death game. Neku had thought things would be normal now, or at least… not dangerous anymore.

Because things would never be normal. Not now… Not after going through three weeks of hell, learning to trust people, only to have that trust broken, and making friends only to almost lose them in the face of death.

"Damn you, Joshua…" Neku muttered under his breath, clenching his fist as he thought back on it all. Sure, Joshua's damned game had gained him friends, taught him so much, but still. Joshua lied to him on multiple occasions, and killed him on top of that. Twice.

Neku wished he could just forget all that and only have memories of all the good the game had done for him. He wished he could forget about Joshua, and Beat's betrayal, and the fact that in the end, if things had gone according to the Composer's plan, Shibuya would be gone- erased, along with him and his friends, and it would have been all his fault.

But he couldn't forget. Not with what was happening to him now. He was still seeing the game. At first it didn't happen very often, just an occasional glimpse of a player or maybe some noise every so often. A small enough occurrence that Neku could pass it off as his imagination, still slightly paranoid after being in the game for too long.

But it was happening far too often for it to simply be some strange side effect of paranoia. Pretty soon he was recognizing the players he saw, and hearing them, too. When he was busy with Shiki or Beat he'd usually ignore them. It was hard, sometimes, but he had to. It was obvious that his friends weren't seeing the same things, and he couldn't bring himself to even mention the game again, let alone tell them he was still seeing it.

When he was alone, though, he's take the liberty of following a pair of players for a while, learning about the day's mission. He'd be careful to remain unnoticed by them however, not wanting them to waste their precious time on him or to stir any trouble.

It was getting to be too much for him, though. Neku couldn't stand it. He was getting glares from the wall reapers, as if they were warning him not to interfere with anything. The occasional sight of a player's erasure was unbearable, too. Neku wished he could do something, anything to help them, but he knew it was already too late.

There were other things, too. Neku was starting to sense things. Sometimes as he'd be walking through the streets he'd suddenly feel… a strange sort of warmth. It was as if he could sense each person's own unique aura, see the light they gave off, and heard each's individual melody.

At first he thought it was just one of the side effects from finishing the game, along with his enhanced skills in art and music. He made the mistake of asking Beat about it once, who told him he was crazy and kept mocking him for hallucinating.

Neku shook his head, raising a shaky hand to the café door. He needed to know what was going on, and Hanekoma was just the man who would know. Other than Joshua, of course, but even if Neku knew where he was; he wouldn't vent his problems to him. Not in a million years.

Neku hesitated again, just as he was about to touch the door handle. What was Hanekoma even going to do about this? And… if he _could_ help him stop seeing the game, would he stop seeing those lights, too? Stop feeling each warm little glimmer that weaved together to form the very fabric of the city he loved?

No. He had to do this. He had to at least figure out what all this meant: why he was still seeing things and why the others weren't. Neku had a small hunch about it, buried in the back of his mind, but he quickly pushed that thought away.

Neku sighed, taking a deep breath as he turned the handle and pushed against the glass, stepping into the WildKat Café. The place was empty as usual, as Hanekoma rarely had a customer that wasn't involved in the game in some way or another, and that wasn't exactly a very wide category of people.

Hanekoma, who had been sitting at the counter reading a magazine, looked up as Neku entered, setting down the cup of coffee he'd been drinking. "Oh hey, Phones! How's it been?" The man called cheerily, and Neku couldn't help but smile. It was nice to see him again.

His smile quickly faded, however, remembering his woes. "I have some things I need to ask you…"

Hanekoma grunted, as if he wasn't surprised. "Sounds serious." He set down his magazine, patting the other side of the counter. "Have a seat and tell me about it. I'll get you a cuppa' joe."

Neku grunted, feeling around for some spare yen in his pocket, knowing the man would charge him. "How much do I owe you? 520? 540?"

Hanekoma chuckled, pouring Neku a cup of his favorite house blend. "It's on the house. You seem pretty upset."

Neku sighed, having a seat and nodding in thanks when Hanekoma handed him the coffee.

"So what's up?" Hanekoma prompted.

"Well…" Neku hesitated, not really knowing where to start. "I-I'm seeing things…" _Oh great, that makes me sound mental_, Neku thought. "I-I mean… I'm still seeing the game."

"Well that's real rough, Phones…" Hanekoma replied. He was sympathetic enough, but Neku knew he wasn't surprised.

"I-I was wondering if you… maybe know why this is happening? Or if there's… any way to stop it?"

"Well…" Hanekoma shrugged. "First of all, what exactly are you seeing?"

"Everything… players, reapers, noise… I thought I was imagining it at first, but… it's definitely all there. I-I hear the players talking about their entry fees, their dreams and goals… a-and then I see them get erased… I-I can't take it…" Neku was seriously starting to lose it. "I already played the damn game! Three freaking times! I just want to put that all behind me! I want to move on!" Neku was shaking now, and he probably looked like he should be locked up in the Looney Barn or something. Sounded like it too.

Hanekoma sighed, looking at Neku with this really sympathetic look, and Neku knew he couldn't help him, no matter how much he wanted to. "Sorry Phones, but-

"I know…" Neku sighed. "You can't help… And… that's okay. I didn't really expect you could. I just… want to know…"

"Why?" Hanekoma offered, continuing after a nod from Neku. "Well… I think you already know that, too, Phones. At least a hunch, right?"

"Well… yeah…" Neku muttered, thinking about how badly he wanted to strangle Joshua for this.

Hanekoma sighed, taking another sip of coffee. "Is that all?"

"N-no…" Neku muttered. "I-I'm not just seeing things… I… I can feel things, too… I don't know exactly what it is, but… it's like I can feel each person's little individual light. It's almost like I can feel THEM, and I… I love it. It's just so amazing, so… so _beautiful_…" he trailed off, just thinking about it for a while.

"Hmm…" Hanekoma mused. "You'd better talk to J about this… I'm not too sure how much he wants you to know, and I'm not exactly obligated to tell you, Phones. Sorry."

Neku scowled. "You expect me to go crawling back to _Joshua_ for answers? There's no way… I won't: never. And…" Neku added, suddenly feeling unsure of himself. "I couldn't if I wanted to anyways…"

Hanekoma chuckled. "And why do you say that?"

Neku glared at him for a moment, unsure of what he meant. I… he's gone, right? Back to his game? I mean… he's busy being all… composery, right? He… He wouldn't have time for me…" Neku didn't really know what came over him, then. Didn't know why he gave a damn if Joshua had time for him or not.

Something, either in Neku's expression or voice, made Hanekoma smile in amusement, and Neku felt his face redden in embarrassment. "Really, Phones, I thought you were smarter than that. You really think the Composer wouldn't leave a way for his special pick to contact him? He took a special liking to you, you know."

"Oh, so that's why he killed me." Neku muttered. "He likes me."

Hanekoma sighed. "You know it's complicated, Phones… Anyway, you still got some pins, right?"

Neku nodded. "Well, yeah. The psyches don't work, though." Where was Hanekoma getting with this?

"Did you ever look through them all though?"

Neku crossed his arms. "What are you getting at?"

"You have 'em with you, right? Take 'em out."

Neku rolled his eyes, annoyed at how obvious that had been to the coffee man, and fished the cluster of pins out of his pocket and tossed them on the counter.

Hanekoma quickly sorted through them. "Thought so." He muttered, grabbing a yellow pin pictured with a skull-shaped key and showing it to Neku.

"The… the key pin for…" Neku trailed off, remembering how he and Beat had used that very pin to get into the Shibuya River, the game practically falling apart behind them…

"But… why would he…" Neku didn't say anything more; just stared at the pin, not really sure if he wanted it or not.

"Go see him, Phones." Hanekoma said. "You know he's been waiting."


	2. Chapter 2

Neku rushed down past the statue of Hachiko to get to the station underpass, feeling kind of bad about texting Shiki, asking for a rain check on their movie date, but he didn't know how long this was going to take, and he needed answers.

He approached the sewers slowly, not wanting to run into the invisible wall he knew would be there at full force. He put his hands out in front of him, trying to locate it. When Neku's hands finally touched something solid, he jumped in surprise, forgetting what the walls were like. It'd been so long since he'd had to worry about them…

The boy just stood there for a bit, leaving his hand against the invisible barrier, not really sure if he wanted to go back to that dreadful place that had nearly cost him his life. He took a deep breath and pressed his pin against the wall, the invisible force field slowly breaking down in front of him, allowing him to pass.

He walked through the sewers very slow and cautiously, shivering when he saw the vending machine that had once been crushing a power hungry Sho Minamimoto. He had obviously not been killed, though, since Neku had glanced him around Shibuya a couple times, although he couldn't tell if he was in the RG or UG, or if he was anything more than just a wall reaper now.

He also had to chuckle at the fact that the few times he had spotted the math fetishist, he'd been missing his hat, which Neku was pretty sure was still hanging on his closet door back at home. Ah, good times. Only Beat would think to steal an unconscious guy's hat.

Neku continued walking, slowing even more when he saw CAT's murals, pausing for a few minutes to appreciate the work Hanekoma must have put in them before continuing.

It wasn't too long before he was standing in front of the giant red doors that led to what Neku had chosen to call the dead god's pad, or simply "the pad". Not that Neku really chose to speak about it all, ever, since finishing the game.

Neku raised a shaky hand to knock on the door, only to have them opened by a familiar face before his hand could touch the wood.

"Oh, you actually cared to knock! " Joshua teased, that stupid smile that Neku remembered hating spread wide across his face. "I'm flattered, Neku!"

"Oh, cut the crap, Josh." Neku retorted, arms crossed. "Why the hell did you want me to come back here anyway?"

Joshua shrugged, walking back into the room while the fish below the glass floor scattered where he stepped. "You came here on your own accord, Neku. I simply gave you the option." He sat on the leather couch in the corner, motioning for Neku to do the same.

Neku did so, but with an annoyed look on his face, and when he sat down on the couch, he made sure to do so as far away from Joshua as possible. But there it was again: that weird feeling of a connection to Shibuya's Composer. Something that made Neku suddenly care about what he had to say and made him worry that Joshua wouldn't want to waste his time with him.

He shook his head, quickly dispelling those strange feelings from his mind, but something in Joshua's expression, probably that devious glimmer in his eyes, made Neku realize that the Composer had noticed his hesitation, and Neku bit hit lip to hide his embarrassment.

"Care to tell me why you're down here then, Neku?" Joshua mused.

Neku clenched his fists. "You know why." He said, gritting his teeth.

Joshua giggled. "Whatever do you mean?"

Neku was getting angry now, and he raised a fist at Joshua as he spoke. "Why the hell are you doing this to me, Josh? I already won your stupid game! Three times! You put me through hell out there, and now you just expect me to go on with my life, seeing dead people everywhere I go?"

"My, my, Neku. No need to get so angry." Joshua chided. "Aren't you enjoying your new gift?" Joshua's stupid smile was back, and Neku wanted to punch him so badly.

"Enjoy?… What the hell is wrong with you, Josh? This isn't a gift, it's a fucking curse!" Neku shouted, the corners of his eyes stinging from all the pent up anger.

Joshua's expression was serious now, and he took a few moments to study Neku with narrowed eyes before replying. "You may not realize it, Neku, but the gift you've been given is immensely powerful."

"I don't care!" Neku practically screamed. "I don't want this! I can't take it anymore! I just want a normal life!"

"Do you, Neku?" And Joshua's words seemed to call out to that one small part of Neku that _didn't_ want to lead a normal life. The part of him that didn't mind seeing the game if it meant being able to hold on to those little lights he felt everywhere he went.

"N… No. I don't. Not really…" Neku sighed, slumping back on the couch. "But… I just can't take this…"

"You wouldn't be able to sense soul if the game remained invisible to you, Neku." Joshua said seriously after a few moments of silence.

"I… so that's what it is? I'm feeling, hearing, seeing… people's… souls?"

Joshua nodded, smiling again. "It's beautiful, isn't it? Feeling the warmth of every person in the city; seeing the lights everywhere you go; hearing the melody that each one plays to weave together and form the song that is Shibuya?"

Neku nodded, smiling at the thought of it all. "Yeah. It's just… wonderful, I guess. Fantastic."

"And that's why you came here." Joshua stated simply, prompting Neku to continue.

"I don't really… well, yeah, I guess…" Neku admitted. "I… I want to know more about it…" he hated giving Joshua the satisfaction, but suddenly… crawling back to him for answers didn't seem quite so pathetic.

Joshua's smile widened. "I thought you might."

"So?…" Neku asked. "W-will you… you going to tell me or not?"

Joshua chuckled, standing up and holding out his hand. Neku almost grabbed it, but then rolled his eyes and stood up on his own, crossing his arms.

Joshua sighed and muttered something inaudible under his breath before speaking to Neku again, his expression very VERY serious all of a sudden. "How much have you felt, Neku?"

"I-I don't really know… I mean, I can feel them and see them, hearing things on occasion."

"How bright are they?"

"I don't… bright, I guess? I really don't know, Josh." Neku was getting frustrated. "You're asking me about something I know nothing about!"

Joshua sighed again. "You really do have a lot to learn…"

"Well then teach me, damn it!" Neku shouted, slightly regretting the words as soon as they left his mouth.

Joshua smiled, clearly pleased with Neku's choice of words. "Very well then."

Neku shoved his hands in his pockets, looking away to try and hide his reddened face from Joshua.

Joshua chuckled at him. "Your face is priceless, Neku."

"J-just shut up and teach me." The younger boy muttered.

"As you wish." Joshua smirked. "Now, Neku, I want you to focus all of your thoughts on me for a moment." Neku opened his mouth to retort, but Joshua stopped him. "Don't complain Neku. I want to know if you can sense my soul."

Neku rolled his eyes before closing them, focusing all of his thoughts on the shimmer of light that he knew must be buried (no matter how deep) within the Composer.

The glimmer Neku saw, or rather sensed, was faint, but it was definitely there, and the longer he concentrated on it, the brighter it got. Pretty soon, it was overwhelming, though, consuming all of his other senses.

He blinked, but Joshua's blinding white light was all he saw. The incredible warmth and burst of energy was all he felt, and the fast-flowing melody of Joshua's own personal song was all he heard.

Neku dropped to his knees, holding his hands to his head in pain. It was too much. He could feel his vision blurring, and he would have been glad to pass out if it meant being able to escape from the grip that the immense power of Joshua's soul had on him.

Suddenly there were hands on his shoulders, though, and Neku collapsed into Joshua's arms as he felt the pain slowly ebbing away.

"I thought this might happen…" Joshua said slowly, rubbing one of Neku's shoulders. Neku would have moved away or flinched from his touch, but it was comforting having his hand there, easing some more of the pain.

"Then… why'd you make me do it?…" Neku muttered into Joshua's shoulder, still feeling a bit lightheaded.

Joshua chuckled, twirling a piece of Neku's hair with his finger. "It was necessary knowledge."

"Bastard…" Neku murmured in reply, feeling his eyes slowly close as the strangely comforting sound of Joshua's laughter became quieter and quieter until he was fast asleep on the Composer's shoulder.

-

After Neku was asleep, Joshua carefully lifted him up and set him on the couch, being careful not to wake him. He couldn't help but smile as Neku murmured something inaudible, and he sat on the couch next to him, just admiring his face as he slept.

A half hour of so later, there was a knock on the door, and Joshua sighed, not wanting to get up to answer it, but doing so anyway. There was really only one person it could be, so Joshua up-tuned his frequency to his normal glowing self and opened the door for Hanekoma.

"Hey, Boss, how'd it go with Neku?" Hanekoma asked.

Joshua sighed. "Not as well as I would have liked. He agreed to the training, but when I asked him to sense my soul, well…" he gestured over to the couch where Neku was asleep.

Hanekoma sighed also, shaking his head. "You know, you really shouldn't go pushing him too far. I'm sure his soul is already stressed out from having to form a companionship with yours. You really shouldn't be asking him to do things he's not ready for."

Joshua opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted by a murmur from the couch. "J-Joshua?… You okay?…" came Neku's voice. Joshua could tell he was half asleep.

"I'm fine, Neku. Go back to sleep."

"Mmh… kay…" As Neku went back to sleep, his image starting to get a little blurry around the edges as his soul automatically changed frequencies all on its own, no matter how small the shift.

"Hmph." Hanekoma muttered. "Changing frequencies already? I guess he's already gotten farther than I thought. How's the companionship going?"

"Quite well, actually." Joshua mused. "He still acts like he hates me, but… I can tell that he doesn't. Not truly."

"Just… promise me you'll go a little easier on him?" Hanekoma asked.

Joshua shrugged. "Maybe."

Hanekoma sighed. "Well," he said fishing some pins out of his pocket and handing them to Joshua. "Here are the player pins you wanted for the next game. Got them done a little early, so I thought I'd give 'em to you. I gotta get back to the café now. Just… at least consider bein' a little nice to the kid, alright?"

"I'll think about it." Joshua smirked, letting Hanekoma leave with an irritated look on his face.


	3. Chapter 3

Neku awoke to the sound of a phone ringing; his own cell phone to be exact. He heard Joshua grab it from the table (in front of the couch where Neku was laying) and flip open.

"Hello?… I'm sorry, Neku's sleeping. May I take a message?" He paused for a moment as the person on the other line told him what they had called for, which gave Neku just enough time to get up, rub his eyes, and snatch his phone from Joshua before he could say anything else.

"Sorry, I'm here."

"Oh, Neku!" The voice was Shiki's. "Um… who was that?…"

Neku's face paled, not really wanting to tell Shiki that he'd canceled their date to meet up with _Joshua_.

"Neku?"

"Uh, yeah… I'm here. Sorry. That was Joshua. I…" Neku trailed off. What was he supposed to say?"

"Neku? You still there?"

"Y-yeah…"

"Who's Joshua?"

Neku's eyes grew wide in shock, and he went silent again. Surely Shiki must remember _Joshua_ – Shibuya's Composer – the one who had nearly destroyed the entire city and had almost cost his friends' their lives.

"Neku, are… are you okay?" Shiki was starting to sound concerned.

"Yeah, I-I'm just…" Neku sighed. He couldn't just lie to her like this. "I don't know, Shiki… I'm just trying to work out some things and-

"It's fine." Shiki interrupted. "Take your time."

"Shiki… I'm sorry about yesterday… and now…"

Shiki giggled. "It's fine, Neku. Really. I… hope you get over whatever you're going through. Just call me when you have some free time, alright?"

Neku smiled. "Yeah, sure. And thanks."

"You're welcome. And good luck Neku. Talk to you later."

"Yeah, bye, Shiki…" Neku said the words a little too late, closing the phone after realizing so and sitting back down on the couch.

Neku sighed, wanting to know why Shiki didn't remember Joshua, but too worn out to go through the trouble of asking the Composer. "How long was I asleep?" he asked instead.

Joshua shrugged, sitting right next to Neku, so close that their shoulders were touching, which surprisingly didn't faze the redhead. "About twenty hours."

"I… I was asleep… that long?" Neku shivered, noticing that even though he'd just woken up, he still felt very weak, and he had the slight buzz of a headache starting to form.

Joshua nodded, and for the first time, Neku glimpsed a bit of sympathy in his expression. "I'm sorry. I didn't know my soul would cause you so much strain."

"Hmph." Neku crossed his arms.

Joshua chuckled. "What is it, Neku?"

"You actually sound sincere." Neku muttered in reply.

Joshua smirked. "First time for everything, I suppose." And Neku knew he wasn't just talking about himself.

Neku sighed, resting his head on Joshua's shoulder, ignoring him when he giggled at him. For some reason… it didn't bother him. Neku told himself it was because he was too tired to care, but he knew that wasn't the case. "Why are you doing this to me?" Neku murmured.

"Care to be more specific?"

Neku felt his eyes getting heavy again, and it was a struggle just to keep them open, let alone answer Joshua's question. "Like… why pick me?" he managed. "And this… strange connection I feel towards you… wh…why?"

Joshua giggled again, twirling some more of Neku's hair with his fingers. "You were my proxy, Neku. My special pick, don't you remember? _Of course_ it'd be you who receives this gift. And the companionship you feel is part of that, too."

"Mmph…" was all Neku could manage to say in response.

Neku felt Joshua's hand on his forehead after that, feeling his temperature. "Mmh… you're burning up…" he murmured, actual concern in his voice. "Just rest for a bit longer, Neku. I'll tell you more when you wake up."

Neku didn't reply to that, falling asleep on Joshua's shoulder only moments after Joshua had spoken the words.


	4. Chapter 4

When Neku next awoke, the pad was mostly dark, tiny lights from below the glass floor illuminating the water and adding a somewhat enchanted look to the room.

Neku rubbed his eyes, almost expecting Joshua to still be sitting next to him, but there was no sight of him anywhere in the room. Just as Neku was about to shout for him, his phone vibrated against the table, and he flipped it open, reading the text: "Meet me at the station underpass. You have 30 minutes."

Neku rolled his eyes at the mission-like format, telling himself he'd strangle Joshua when he next saw him, but knowing he wouldn't. He sighed, standing up to stretch and checking the time before slipping his phone back into his pocket. It was 11 at night.

_Damn you, Josh… what do you want now?_ Neku thought, walking over to the doors to leave. He paused before opening them, though. What the hell did Joshua want with him at the underpass for in the middle of the night?

In the end, though, Neku decided to meet him there, half of him scared of what would happen if he didn't, and the other half feeling that stupid "companionship" as Joshua had called it.

The sewers were basically pitch black, and Neku needed to use his phone's backlight to navigate through them. _Screw this_… Neku thought. _The underpass isn't even that far from here. Why go through the trouble of having me meet him there?_ Neku sighed, deciding that Joshua probably just wanted to irritate him.

A few more minutes of walking and Neku realized his surroundings becoming surprisingly lighter as he approached the underpass, which was strange because even though the underpass had an exit to go outdoors, it was night and the moonlight really shouldn't have been that bright.

And upon further inspection, Neku realized that the source of light wasn't coming from outside, but from something indoors.

As Neku approached he realized where the light was coming from: a glowing man standing in the middle of the tunnel. His hair was about shoulder length and kind of ratty, but it was indeed a beautiful sight.

He _did_ look somewhat familiar, though, which troubled Neku. He stopped in front of the man and studied him with narrow eyes.

The man did nothing but smirk at Neku's choice of action, which was when Neku realized exactly who it was.

"J-J-Joshua? You… you _glow_?" Neku stuttered.

The man nodded, walking closer so he was standing directly in front of Neku. The younger boy took a step back, remembering something Megumi Kitaniji had told him once. "So… so when Shades said we were unfit to view you… he practically treated you like a god because… because you're… damn, what _are_ you, Josh?"

"I'm Shibuya's composer." Joshua said simply, his voice a little different in this form.

"B-but how come… why do you?…"

"This is my true form, Neku. The form you usually see me in is my RG self. Right now, I exist on a totally different plane of existence." Joshua explained.

"Then… why… why can I see you?" Neku was seriously starting to lose it.

"It's very much like seeing the RG from the UG, although… most ordinary humans can't comprehend my existence."

"Wh-what do you mean?"

"All beings exist on a certain frequency; my frequency being so far above the RG's frequency that most humans can't even acknowledge me." He spoke in a voice tainted with sadness, and Neku could tell that Joshua had been going through this for a long, long time.

"But how can I…" Neku was still confused.

Joshua smirked. "Because of that gift I mentioned."

"And what exactly is this gift, Josh?"

"I'm sure you'll find out eventually." Joshua shrugged.

Neku sighed. _Yep, this is definitely Josh_… "So why did you drag me down here anyway?"

"The way I normally appear to you is my RG appearance, like I said before. I have the ability to down-tune my frequency to exist on different planes and grounds of existence. You should be able to do the same."

Neku crossed his arms. "Well that still doesn't answer my quest-

"Well I wouldn't want you breaking anything in the pad if something were to go wrong."

"Hmph. Well what about the-

"Throne room?" Joshua smirked. "Please, Neku. You think I could trust you in there after what happened last time?"

"Hey, that was mostly Shades." Neku said with a chuckle.

"Well maybe next time." Joshua smirked. "Now can we just get on with this?~"

Neku nodded.

"Alright, this may be difficult, but all you need to do to change your frequency in to will yourself to exist on a different plane."

"And… how am I supposed to do that?"

Joshua sighed as if trying to think of a way to explain it. "Try to imagine a radio with bad reception. To change the channel all you need to do is turn the dial, although it may still be hard for that channel to come in clearly."

Neku sighed. "So you're basically just telling me to wing it and hope for the best, then, huh?"

Joshua shrugged. "I suppose."

"Okay, well… before I do, could you, uh… stop being all glowy?"

"I guess I can for now…" Joshua sighed, his image becoming really blurry for a few seconds before he shifted back into his RG self. "But I don't really like being in this form too often." He admitted. "It limits my abilities."

"It… it does?" Neku thought back on when Joshua had formed a pact with him during his second week in the game. Had he really gone through the entire week with weakened powers? If so, Neku felt kind of bad for him.

Joshua nodded. "Now are you going to do this or not?"

Neku rolled his eyes. "Fine." He closed his eyes and tried to imagine the radio dial that Joshua had mentioned. It wasn't too hard to envision, but reaching for it, imagining himself turning the dial, was another story. As he reached for the dial, the image he imagined became fuzzy, and he felt himself becoming lightheaded. The boy took a few dizzy steps backwards, and Joshua quickly ran over to help Neku steady himself.

"I… I can't do it, Josh…" Neku muttered.

"You're doing fine." Joshua murmured in a soothing voice. "In fact, you're already down-tuned for the UG."

Neku's eyes grew wide with shock and he slowly turned around to look at Joshua. "B-But I…"

"You changed your frequency much easier than I thought you would." Joshua chided, continuing with a smirk. "I honestly wasn't sure if you could do it or not."

"H-How do I get back to the RG?" Neku asked frantically, starting to panic. He didn't want to be stuck in the UG. Not again.

Joshua shrugged. "Up-tune your frequency."

"But… wh-what if I can't do it? I… I don't want to be stuck here, Josh!"

Joshua's expression turned sympathetic, and he put a hand on Neku's shoulder. "Neku, you're going to be fine. If you can't do it on your own, I can up-tune your frequency for you, alright?"

"A-alright…"

"Now…" Joshua continued, removing his hand from Neku's shoulder. "You're probably hungry, right?"

Neku nodded, realizing how much of his feeling of weakness must be from hunger. "Well, yeah. I haven't eaten in over 24 hours."

"Let's head back to the pad for now. I'll make some instant ramen. Does that sound alright?" Joshua asked, his smirk returning.

"U-um… sure…" Neku replied.

Their walk back to the pad was mostly in silence. Neku kept glancing at Joshua every once and a while, wondering if he should say something. He never did, though, and within ten minutes they were walking through the ominous red doors to the dead god's pad.

Neku headed straight to the couch and sat down, too tired to do anything else, as Joshua disappeared into a back room for several minutes before returning with two bowls of steaming ramen.

Joshua sat on the couch beside Neku, stuck chopsticks into the bowls, and handed one to Neku.

"Thanks." The redhead yawned, grabbing a few noodles with the wooden chopsticks and shoving them hungrily into his mouth.

Joshua chuckled at him and ate a few noodles himself. Neku rolled his eyes and the two boys ate the noodles in silence. When Neku was done, he set his bowl on the table and turned to Joshua.

"Okay, Josh. I want some answers."

Joshua snickered and set his half empty bowl next to Neku's. "Ask away."

"What's happening to me?" Neku demanded. "What am I becoming? Are you… you're not training me to be the next composer, right?…"

Another of Joshua's wide signature grins appeared on his face. "Not the composer…" he smirked.

Neku's eyes widened as everything finally clicked into place. "This weird bond… these abilities… We… we killed Shades. You're short a conductor…"

Joshua giggled and clapped his hands a few times. "Very good, Neku. Really, I thought you'd have figured it out sooner than this."

"No, no, no…" Neku muttered, cradling his head in his hands. "This can't be happening…"

"It's already happened, Neku." Joshua stated with a shrug. "You're my conductor and you're going to have to deal with it."

"But… I… I never agreed to any of this…" Neku whispered in a heartbroken voice, tears stinging the corners of his eyes.

Joshua crossed his arms. "You came here and asked to be taught. That's agreement enough."

"Even so, you… you gave me these abilities before I agreed to _anything_!" Neku shouted.

Joshua shrugged. "That was merely a sneak preview so to speak."

"You are such a bastard!" Neku continued, his voice only getting louder.

"Stop it, Neku!" Joshua snapped, a mixed look of hurt and annoyance on his face. "Stop pretending like you want to part in this!"

"But I _don't_ want any part in this!"

Joshua narrowed his eyes. "Neku, it's already too late. And even if you _could_ stop being my conductor, would you?" You'd have to give up this new part of yourself. All of these new abilities. You'd stop sensing soul."

"I…" Neku sighed. "Damn you, Josh. Damn you."

Joshua giggled.

"What is it now?" Neku growled.

"Your insults don't sound nearly as serious as they used to." Joshua replied with a smirk.

Neku narrowed his eyes at Joshua. "You're in the middle of ruining my life and you have the nerve to point out that I'm not as mean as I used to be?"

Joshua's eyes glimmered with hints of sorrow and sympathy. "I'm sorry. I-I know how hard this must be on you…"

Neku blinked. Joshua was actually being nice for once; or at least trying to be. "It's happening to you, too…" he realized. "This connection or… companionship or whatever. You feel it, too…"

Joshua stifled a sigh of remorse. "Yes, I feel it. But it's… strange…"

"How come?" Neku pondered, momentarily forgetting the argument. "Didn't you go through the same thing with Shades?"

Joshua nodded with a troubled look on his face. "Yes, but… it was never this strong…" he was silent for a moment or two before continuing in a happier tone. "But I guess that just means we're a good match then, hmm?"

Neku sighed. "What am I going to do? I mean… if I'm really stuck with you… What about my friends and family? What about school?"

Joshua's eyes were sad again. "You'll have to leave them behind. We might be able to make time for your friends, but family is most definitely out of the question."

"What do you _mean_ family is out of the question?" Neku snapped. "Aren't they going to notice that I'm never home?"

Joshua crossed his arms. "Did they notice when you died?"

Neku dropped his gaze to the floor. "Wh-what do you mean?" he murmured, knowing _exactly_ what Joshua meant.

"When I killed you. Did they notice?" Joshua continued in a hard tone.

A sharp pain ran through Neku's heart as he remembered the theory he had about his parents as he played the reapers' game. Flowers had been left where his friends Beat and Rhyme had been killed by a car. Nothing had been left under the mural where Neku had been shot and killed by Joshua.

At first Neku could tell himself that maybe his folks just didn't know where their son had died, but he knew that wasn't the case. His death had been a big subject among the realgrounders during his three weeks in the game.

"Did you hear about that boy who was killed in front of CAT's mural?" someone would ask.

"Yeah, I read the article about it in the paper." Someone else would reply. "The Sakuraba kid, right?"

Deep down, Neku had knows that his parents knew nothing of his death. Both his father and mother worked out of town, and they were both constantly on long business trips. They were almost never home, and even when they were, they barely acknowledged their son, too busy making business calls. Even though none of the realgrounders remembered the deaths of Neku and his friends after they had won the game and gotten their lives back, thoughts of how his parents hadn't known that their only son was dead, _murdered_, still haunted the boy's mind.

"Well?" Joshua asked after several minutes of silence, bringing Neku's thoughts back to the present.

"No. They didn't notice." Neku replied in a scorned voice, turning to glare at Joshua with cold, emotionless eyes.

"So what makes you think they'd notice _this_?"

"It'll be a longer time." Neku replied angrily through gritted teeth. "They'll notice eventually."

Joshua shrugged. "And it won't really matter when they do, anyway."

"Of course it'll matter!" Neku shouted. "They'll probably call the police and order a missing child alert!"

Joshua rolled his eyes. "Please, Neku, Isn't that a bit dramatic?"

"No!" Neku shouted. "I don't know what kind of crazy mixed up world you're living in, but that's what normal people do when they realize their kid's missing!"

"They won't call the police." Joshua stated matter-of-factly.

"How do you know?" Neku asked in a suspicious tone.

Joshua sighed. "I'm the _composer_ of Shibuya, Neku. I made the entire city forget about your friends' deaths. I made your friends forget about my identity. Don't you think I'd have ways of keeping your parents unaware of this?"

"So you _did_ make Shiki forget about you…" Neku grumbled, crossing his arms.

Joshua chuckled. "Of course. Only the conductor and a few high ranked reapers are allowed to know my identity."

Neku sighed. "What about Mr. H? He's not a reaper and he knows you're the composer, right?"

Another laugh from Joshua. "That's a secret."

Neku rolled his eyes. "Well what's your grand scheme, then?"

Joshua shrugged. "All I need to do is unerase the memory of your death."

Neku sighed. Joshua was making everything sound way too simple. "But won't people notice a dead kid walking around? Won't that raise some suspicions?"

"Normally that wouldn't be a problem since the conductor doesn't usually make too many public appearances…" Joshua trailed off to sigh before continuing. "But since you're so intent on spending time with your friends… I suppose I'll have to erase your appearance from everyone's minds as well."

Neku just stared at Joshua with a blank look on his face. "Is that even possible?"

Joshua giggled. "Please, Neku, I'm the com-

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. The composer. I get it. Ugh, why did I even ask?"

The two sat in silence for a bit until Joshua spoke again. "So have you accepted your fate yet?"

Neku sighed. "I don't want this, but… you make it sound like I have no choice."

"You learn fast." Joshua smirked.

"Is… is there _any_ way out of this?" Neku asked in a pleading tone.

Joshua shrugged. "Erasure is always an option."

Neku sighed yet again. Right now, erasure almost sounded inviting. Almost.

"And I suppose you could try running away."

Neku blinked. "You'd let me do that?"

"Please. Wouldn't you do it anyway even if it was against my permission?" He laughed a bit before continuing. "Ha! Neku's asking me for permission to run away. The companionship is stronger than I thought."

"I don't need your permission to do _anything_!" Neku shouted, angrier at himself than at Joshua at this point.

Joshua sighed. "There's no point in trying to fight it, Neku. We have a bond."

Neku stood up, choosing to ignore Joshua's comment. "If I run… you won't stop me?" he asked.

Joshua shook his head. "No, but running away won't save you, Neku. You'll have no choice but to come back to me eventually."

Neku clenched his fist and spoke through gritted teeth. "Maybe so, but that won't stop me from trying." He didn't stick around to hear if Joshua had anything to say to that. As soon at the words were out of his mouth, he booked it and ran.

-

Joshua smiled as Neku ran out the door without looking back. His new conductor was being so rebellious. This venture would prove to be very interesting indeed.


	5. Chapter 5

Neku ran. He ran through the sewers and into the black night beyond. He ran past Hachiko, through the scramble crossing, past Cadoi City and Towa Records, and through Miyashita Park. He ran down Cat Street and only hesitated once he had reached the WildKat Café.

_Hanekoma…_ Neku thought, pausing in front of the café's glass doors. _He should know something to get me out of this. But… No._ Neku shook his head and turned away. _Hanekoma's too close to Josh. He wouldn't help me._ Neku sighed. _Besides. He's probably not even there right now. It's probably past Midnight._

Neku shook his head and continued his walk down the street, but a few steps past the café and he suddenly felt a familiar stinging sensation that blocked his path.

The boy blinked a few times before a thought struck him. "No… I'm still in the UG…" he muttered, taking a step back from the wall. "Joshua… he never changed my frequency back to normal…" Neku continued on in an even quieter voice, dropping to his knees and staring at the ground in dismay. "I can't… I can't leave Shibuya…"

Neku sat there for a few minutes, trying to pull himself together. All he had to do was change his frequency. He did it once before, he might be able to do it again.

Neku sighed and managed to pull himself back to a standing position. He took a few deep breaths and closed his eyes. He imagined the same radio from when he had changed his frequency before, and concentrated on it as hard as he could.

This time was harder, though, and Neku's head started pounding almost as soon as the image had formed in his mind. He dropped to his knees again as his vision started to blur. The day's events had really taken it out of the boy, and this time, Neku didn't have Joshua there to help him through it.

Neku reached for the wall, hoping that he'd somehow managed to get back to the RG, but it was still there.

Neku felt the last of his strength leave him, and within moments, he was laying unconscious on the black asphalt.

"Hey, Yuki, look, one a' the reapers passed out. Think we could get any tips on the mission of we jump 'im?"

"Kida, don't joke around like that… what if he's dangerous?…"

Neku rubbed his eyes and struggled into a sitting position, blinking a few times to try to adjust to the sunlight streaming into his vision. There were two kids around his age standing in front of him: A girl in a purple sundress with short silvery hair, and a boy with shaggy brown hair and a biker jacket.

"What are you talking about, he's no older than us! How tough can he be?" Continued the boy, placing his hands on his hips.

The girl, Yuki, Neku guessed, took a nervous step backward and pointed a shaky finger towards Neku. "K-Kida, he's awake…"

"Oh yeah?" Kida asked, looking towards Neku. "Well what's the reaper gonna do anyway? He looks totally beat. Doubt he can do _us_ much harm."

"Don't _say that_, Kida…" Yuki whispered.

Neku blinked. Who were these people? Were they players? And… why were they calling him a reaper? How could they possibly know anything about him predicament?

"I-I'm not a reaper…" Neku mumbled, standing up and wiping some dust off his shorts.

"What was that, reaper?" Kida asked, taking a step towards Neku? "What'd you say?"

Neku sighed. Kida remembered him of how short-tempered Beat was when they'd first met. "I said I'm not a reaper."

Kida broke out in laughter. "Yeah, not a reaper, right. Cause normal people have walk around with black wings sticking out of their back."

"W-w-wings?…" Neku stuttered in panic, reaching a shaky hand to feel for wings behind his back.

Sure enough, the boy's hand hit something solid, and he traced his fingers around the spiky wings protruding from his back. "No…" he muttered. "No, no, no, this is all wrong…"

Kida sighed. "Oh great. A reaper with identity crisis. Listen, do you know anything about the mission or not?"

"M…mission?" Neku murmured, still half dazed by the fact that he had reaper wings.

"Ugh, what is this guy, a retard? Yeah. The mission. 'Discover the secret of Cat Street'?"

"I-I, uh… don't know… s-sorry…"

"You sure you're telling the truth, reaper?" Kida pressed, raising a fist towards Neku.

"Kida…" Yuki pleaded. "We don't have time for this… We're going to fail!"

Neku shook his head, finally able to get a grip on reality. "She's right. You can't waste your time with me. Go finish the mission. Get a second chance."

Kida blinked. "Huh?" The boy obviously wasn't expecting this kind of reaction from a reaper.

Neku sighed. "Don't waste your breath arguing with me. If you want your life back, you'll have to work for it."

Kida looked like he was going to say something else, but Neku didn't give him the chance. "And about the mission. Try going to the café right over there," Neku paused to point to the WildKat Café. "And try talking to a man named Sanae Hanekoma. He might know something."

"W-wait. How do I know this isn't a trap?" Kida asked. "Why should I trust a reaper?"

"Listen, Not all of us- er- them are like that. Reapers aren't _all_ bad, you know?"

"O-oh…" was all Kida said before turning back to Yuki. "C'mon Yuki, let's get going."

Yuki nodded. "R-right. Thanks, um…"

"Neku."

Yuki smiled and said "Thanks, Neku," before running after her partner towards the WildKat Café.


End file.
